Legacy in the News: Son’s plunge from second-story window inspires mom's window-safety book

April 9 and 10, 2014

If the Keen Cunninghams had a yard made out of peanut butter, 3-year-old Thomas would have gotten sticky and gooey when he fell out of the family’s second-story window.

But that’s not real.

And if Thomas had bubble pajamas he could float and everything he touched would feel soft. Maybe then, his skull wouldn’t have cracked when he hit the ground.

But that’s not real either.

The scenarios are all part of Becca Keen Cunningham’s new children’s book, “If Kids Could Float: A Window Fall Prevention Story.” Becca and Thomas’ twin brother, Zane, came up with the “if only” scenarios as they struggled to understand how and why Thomas tumbled from that window at their Cascade Park home in October 2010.

The family was cautious. But during nap time that day, Thomas made his way to the window and tumbled out, landing on the concrete patio below. Becca and her husband, Jason Keen Cunningham, a firefighter and EMT with Portland Fire & Rescue, heard moans and found Thomas semiconscious, his skull fractured.

“It took him about a year of very hard work to get his recovery,” Becca said. “For the whole family, we’re still healing.”

Thomas, now 7, has recovered better than anyone expected.

“With the significant amount of brain damage he sustained, he wasn’t supposed to be this functional,” Jason said.

“My whole left side was paralyzed,” Thomas said.

Through more than a year of physical, occupational and speech therapy at Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel, Thomas regained feeling and control of the left side of his body. He still lacks some sensation in his left hand and on the left side of his face.

Thomas is testing above average in school and would probably be a gifted athlete, but he can’t play contact sports that would put him at risk for head injury, Jason said.

She wrote her book from the perspective of Zane. Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel sponsored a portion of the publishing of the book, which was illustrated by Charlie Donkin. Profits from book sales will go toward window fall prevention.

In celebration of the book’s release and National Window Safety Week, Becca and her family are hosting book readings. On Wednesday, they returned to Randall Children’s Hospital, where Thomas received treatment after his accident, to share their story with other children and their parents and to promote the use of window safety devices.

“I basically wanted to take it back. I wanted to go back and fix it,” Becca said of Thomas’ accident. “Knowing that wasn’t possible, this was the next best thing.”

Window safety

Every year, about 3,300 children 6 years old and younger are injured after falling from a window. Jan Berichon, a health educator at Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel in Portland, offered these tips for preventing falls: